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Mock Locke: Lost Tonight

Posted Feb 16, 2010 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated Feb 16, 2010 at 01:37 PM

We’ll see more of Locke tonight in the episode “The Substitute,” which makes me happy because Terry O’Quinn’s evil side is becoming so fun to watch (“Let’s not resort to name-calling”). ABC’s description is that Locke “goes in search of help to further his cause,” which sounds like it might focus on unLocke tromping around the island. But maybe we’ll see some of kinder, gentler, pre-dead Locke off-island.

His former girlfriend, Helen, is listed in the credits. We don’t really know what happened to her – last time she came up in Season 5, Abaddon was taking Locke to her alleged grave, but I wouldn’t put it past Widmore and Co. to fake her death (hello, staged underwater plane crash) to make sure Locke didn’t get distracted from his mission to get everyone back to the island. And even if she dies in 2006, she’s still rocking in 2004, so Alternate Timeline Locke might get to hang out with her again. Originally, they had broken up when Locke left for the Walkabout, but if Hurley can be a lucky lotto winner, maybe Locke can keep a girlfriend.

The title is also interesting. The Man in Black is using Island Locke as his substitute body, but it’s not the first time Locke has been a substitute. Eloise Hawking brought it up to Jack in Season 5 when she was telling him to get back to the island. She said Locke had to be a proxy/substitute for Christian on the return flight and that Jack should give Locke something of his father’s (the shoes). Does this mean Christian is the Man in Black? Did Eloise expect the Man in Black to take over Locke’s body? Does this put Widmore on the Man in Black’s side, too? Pass the ibuprofin.